Quotable

Still working my way through Alcorn's book, bit by beneficial bit...


We can't say Saving money is biblical or Saving money is unbiblical.  It may be either, depending on the reasons and the alternatives.


When we read about the rich fool, our first mistake is in thinking we're not really rich.  Our second mistake is assuming we're not fools.  He was living the American dream, storing up wealth to rely on in the future while enjoying his favorite recreational pursuits in the present.


Savings is a means of not presuming upon God.  Hoarding is a mean of replacing God.  Saving can avoid presuming upon others to assume responsibility for our future needs.  Hoarding is a self-absorbed commitment to independence from others who could help us if we're in need, just as we can and should help others [II Corinthians 8:14].


The more hostile the climate, the larger the anthill...ants only store for the coming winter, not for a decade of winters. When I save, I lay something aside for future need.  If I sense God's leading, I will give it away to meet greater need.  When I hoard, I'm unwilling to part with what I've saved to meet others' needs, because my possible future needs outweigh their actual present needs.  Hence, I fail to love my neighbor as myself.


The birds provide for their immediate future through labor - building nests and obtaining food for their young.  But they don't maintain one nest in the mountains and another at the beach.  Neither do they fill their cellars with freeze-dried worms.  Birds do the work that God created them to do; they sing when they work, they don't hoard, and they instinctively trust their Creator to take care of them.  Should we who know God's grace do any less?